HTC EVO Shift vs. Samsung Epic 4G – Speed Test

Today we got a rematch to the original video and comparison we posted from Wirefly (The dudes with all the toys) that they did on the Sprint HTC EVO Shift 4G and the Samsung Epic 4G. The article got some comments so I thought we could finish the debate in another comparison they did on the two devices, but this time running Smartbench 2010 that is available free from the Android Marketplace. (Not App Store, that’s taken).

I’m not even going to keep you in suspense, the Epic 4G kicked the crap out of the EVO Shift in the Gaming side of the test with a 2098 score to a 1056 score turned in by the Shift. The Productivity portion of the Smartbench 2010 test again gave the Epic 4G the bragging rights with a 670 to 620 score.

So what about the Shift now?

KEY DIFFERENCES

Display: One difference between the Samsung Epic 4G and the HTC EVO Shift is the display. The EVO Shift has a 3.6-inch LCD display, while the Epic 4G has a four-inch Super AMOLED screen considered to be one of the best cell phone screens. Both clock in with identical resolution of 480 x 800 pixels.

Operating system: The Samsung Epic 4G runs Android 2.1, which has proved both functional and stable. However, the HTC EVO Shift runs Android 2.2, which offers greater speed and better compatibility with Adobe Flash content than Android 2.1. Samsung has promised an upgrade to Android 2.2 for the Epic 4G but has not yet announced a date for this upgrade.

Keyboard: Both the HTC EVO Shift and the Samsung Epic 4G have physical slide-out keyboards. The Epic 4G has five rows of keys, including an always-accessible row of numbers. The HTC EVO Shift’s keyboard has four rows of keys and requires a press of a “function” key to access numbers and other symbols.

Storage Space: The Samsung Epic 4G ships with 1GB of on-board storage and has a pre-loaded 16GB microSD card. This 16GB card is the maximum size allowable with Android 2.1. The HTC EVO Shift has 1GB of on-board storage and comes with a 2GB microSD card installed. This microSD card can be replaced with one up to 32GB, which gives the EVO Shift a maximum memory of 33 GB.

Camera: Both devices are equipped with 5-megapixel cameras with autofocus and on-board LED flashes, and both can record 720p HD video.

Battery life: Both phones have the same size battery: 1,500 mAh. The Samsung Epic 4G’s battery life is rated at 6.5 hours of talk time, while the HTC EVO Shift is rated for 6 hours of talk time.